barison82 Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Hello everyone - thought I would introduce myself to the forum after a week or so of 'lurking'...I'm usually a very 'low key' kind of person but thought I'd make an effort lol My name is Alex and I am 33 years young, born in Hammersmith but grew up in the leafy North London suburb of East Finchley, on a council estate built during the Clement Atlee era (1945-1951). I work for Waitrose as a Beer, Wine & Spirits Specialist, having passed my WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) exam last year. So I don't mind a decent tipple! I've have had a very long standing interest in British Railways (and London Transport - all aspects), since a child pretty much, I just remember the Class 501s at Finchley Road & Frognall, and an early journey to Richmond in them. I've always had a fascination with BR Southern Region, specifically the BR Blue pre-TOPS era, 1967-1972. When I was 10 years old I came across an Ian Allan Motive Power recognition book from 1971 in a charity shop, which my mum bought for me for 25p (!) I always remember seeing the Class 71 photo in that book, and being immediately fascinated by it's unusual appearance; the cab reminded me of a tube train.This is when my fascination with all those old EMUs and Locos started, and throughout my teens I collected quite a few of those books, dreaming that one day I'd have a third rail layout with all those old' quirky' looking trains running on it... ...That layout is still a dream but being able to have a few models of those old trains has finally become a reality - the MLV, 2-EPB, 2-BIL, 2-HAL, 4-CEP, 4-VEP, waiting for a blue 2-HAP (I've just jumped on the new Class 71) - all in BR blue! This represents an era of rolling stock that had pretty much passed before I was born - but I love the decades of the 1960s right up to my own of the 1980s, and how things were then, so I am quite nostalgic for my age! I collect a lot of models, not just trains but Britbus/EFE models, all of London Transport buses from the 70s-80s (DMS's, Swifts, Merlins, Metropolitans, Titans, Metrobuses), got the 1938 and 1959/62 Tube Stock; and Aeroclassics 1:400 aircraft models, all 70s-80s liveries, I'm a massive fan of the British Airways Red Tail 'Negus' livery, and have a whole fleet of Tridents, VC-10s, Tristars, BAC-1-11s, and 747s from this era. Sorry I've digressed from railways... I love modelling and this forum has a vast wealth of expertise, knowledge and fantastic layouts - very inspiring to say the least. I've been steadily collecting Ratio kits of SR Concrete parts - lamps, fences, huts etc, I've got masses of Peco Finescale track and Individulay for the third rail; and I have also had some authentic signage custom made - using reference photos, for the stations I dream of one day recreating in 00 scale (Richmond and Wimbledon - very ambitious!) The forthcoming Art Deco signalbox from Bachmann has peaked my interest as well, as Richmond and Wimbledon both have those of course. I would also love to model some of the old buildings; warehouses, factories, gas holders; early post-war flats with Crittall windows; basically a piece of old London as it looked then; all rapidly disappearing now of course. I also love all the old TV shows; many from the Thames Television/LWT era, The Sweeney, Minder, Tommy Cooper, Morecambe & Wise, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools & Horses, Dad's Army, Auf Wiedersehen Pet to name but a few....also have a keen interest in WW2 as well. I look forward to reading through the numerous threads here, meeting people and learning even more about this fantastic hobby! I've attached a few photos of the custom signs I had made by John Upton, a very helpful chap, for 00 scale; just to give an idea of the kind of details that interest me in this hobby; I even used the correct 1969-1972 Undeground roundel Cheers Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devo63 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Hi Alex, Welcome to the forum. I've been a member here for just under two years and have found a lot of friendly and helpful advice from our fellow enthusiasts. As to your employment as a Beer, Wine and Spirit Specialist I think you will probably be hearing fairly soon from member Boris. He quotes some rule regarding alcohol which I still haven't found in Andy Y's listings. Dave R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barison82 Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Hi Alex, Welcome to the forum. I've been a member here for just under two years and have found a lot of friendly and helpful advice from our fellow enthusiasts. As to your employment as a Beer, Wine and Spirit Specialist I think you will probably be hearing fairly soon from member Boris. He quotes some rule regarding alcohol which I still haven't found in Andy Y's listings. Dave R Hello Dave Thank you! That's good to hear. I'm really looking forward to meeting other enthusiasts and learning much more about this exciting hobby... Interesting...I'll keep an ear out for Boris then. I'm always happy to share my knowledge in the alcohol department - both in theory and in practice! Nice to meet you Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcm@gwr Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Hello Alex, Welcome to the forum. Jeff P.S. Don't take Boris seriously! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crompton 33 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Welcome to the RM web. From a southern 3rd rail blue modeller. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barison82 Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hello Alex, Welcome to the forum. Jeff P.S. Don't take Boris seriously! Hi Jeff Thank you! And I'll take note of your advice! Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barison82 Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Welcome to the RM web. From a southern 3rd rail blue modeller. Hello crompton 33, Thank you. Fantastic - have you posted any pictures of your layout? Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Welcome to the forum Alex, you will find plenty of advice and inspiration on here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainwright1 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Hi Alex. Pleased to hear from another South London modeller. You interests seem similar to mine spread across a broad range of trains, buses, underground etc. I see that work for a supermarket which probably means that you have to work a lot of evening and weekend shifts which restrict your activities. Not sure if you are a club person, as we have one that is not a million miles from you which you might be of interested in and several of our members and associates also enjoy the odd pint or two occasionally. We meet on Thursday evenings and have a Southern Electric layout with lots of EMUs and others for the S.E. & C.R., G.W.R./Western Region and a new N gauge one based loosely on Kensington Olympia. Some members also dabble in U.S.A. N, HO and 0 gauges, so there's lots of variety.. For further details see our website southwarkmrc.wordpress.com Happy modelling. Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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